Podcasts about weiqi

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACThe Perpetual Chess Podcast episode with GM Tiger Hillarp Persson talking about playing GoInformation on Go professionals Lee Sedol, Cho Hun-hyun, Go Seigen & Michael RedmondThe Go Magic interview for The Surrounding GameDevin Fraze's Baduk Club & Baduk Club's all-in-one tournament tool and online timerThe Pommodoro TechniqueShow your support hereEmail: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACAnders Kierulf's SmartGoAbout AndersBenKyo's league and websiteDevin Fraze's Baduk Club & Baduk Club's all-in-one tournament tool and online timerShow your support hereEmail: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACAdam Grant's Rethinking podcastGo Nation: Chinese Masculinities and the Game of Weiqi in China by Professor Marc L. MoskowitzBenKyo's league and websiteDevin Fraze's Baduk ClubThe Burning Board Go Festival websiteShow your support hereEmail: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACGo Nation: Chinese Masculinities and the Game of Weiqi in China by Professor Marc L. MoskowitzBenKyo's league and websiteDevin Fraze's Baduk ClubShow your support hereEmail: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACTrevor Noah's podcast What Now? with Trevor NoahThe book SapiensAlbert Yen and his go teacher Jiang MingjiuIchiriki RyoLee Changho's gamesBenKyo's league and websiteShow your support hereEmail: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACHajin Lee's website including her bookThe North American Go FederationDeep Mind's AlphaGoBadukPopSearching for Bobby FischerBenKyo's league and websiteDevin Fraze's Baduk ClubThe American Go FoundationTed Talk on GoShow your support hereEmail: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACThe famous ear-reddening game from the introThe Heap of Sand ParadoxSapiens by Yuval Noah HarariPro player Rui NaiweiBenKyo's league and websiteHajin Lee's website which includes her bookShow your support hereEmail: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACJonathan Hop's website Sunday Go LessonsBenKyo's league and websiteDevin Fraze's Baduk ClubShow your support hereEmail: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACThe board game QuartoPresident Nam Chihyung with the International Society of Go Studies (ISGS)Netflix's Captivating the KingConfucian Text ChunqiuKibi no MakabiSunjang BadukThe father of Korean Go, Cho Nam-chulOther pro players: Hsu Hao-hung, Lee Sedol, Cho Hun-hyun, Ichiriki Ryo & Cho ChikunThe Ing CupJapanese Go AssociationKorea Baduk AssociationKorean professional players Lee Sedol, female Kim Eunji and Chinese female Hua XuemingThe Fujitsu CupVideo games Genshin impact and Zelda: Breath of the WildPolish Pro Mateusz Surma and his site polegote.comBenKyo's league and websiteShow your support hereContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACThe "paradox of the heap"Strugglebus Go on YouTube & TwitchMagic the GatheringThe Kiseido Go Server (KGS)Cho Chikun's famous "Teasuji"BenKyo's league and websiteThe Online Go ServerDevin Fraze's Baduk ClubShow your support hereContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACMichael Chen's interview in the European Go JournalMa Xiaochun's The Thirty-Six Stratagems Applied to GoMichael Chen's Twitch ChannelWikipedia pages for Go professionals: Shin Jin-seo, Lee Sedol, Lee Chang-ho, Cho Chikun, Ke Jie, Gu Li, Cho Hun-hyun, & Park JungwhanUS Go CongressThe North American Go Federation which runs the professional qualification tournamentThe online Fox Go ServerThe Toronto Go Spectacular tournamentBenKyo's league and websiteShow your support hereContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

This is part 2 of episode 47: The Classic of Weiqi (Chapters 1-6)! The Classic of Weiqi is an ancient Chinese text about Go so listen in as we take a look at some more general Go advice and proverbs that are over a thousand years old. Read the Classic of Weiqi --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/starpoint/support

Clossius' website & Tsumego Dragon home pageXiaodai & Gazza White's Pro Go/Baduk/Weiqi Podcast on YouTubeShow your support hereContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

The BenKyo LeagueFind updates on new episodes & show your support hereContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACChris Garlock & Michael Redmond's book AlphaGo to Zero, Volume TwoThe AlphaGo documentaryWilliam Cobb's Book on Go & Buddhist Philosophy which is available on SmartGo BooksA nice GoMagic article on Go & Buddhism and William Cobb's essaysFind updates on new episodes & show your support hereContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACGo Magic websiteOGS Moderator KoBa's user profileFind updates on new episodes & show your support hereContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

The Classic of Weiqi is one of the oldest texts about Go. Written by Zhang Ni in the 10th or 11th century, it's chock full of ancient wisdom that has stood the test of time. Can such an old piece of writing help us improve our game? The Classic of Weiqi --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/starpoint/support

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACThe Go "Poem" BookDevin's site Baduk.ClubDevin's Baduk Residency ProgramGazza's Pro Go Baduk Weiqi Podcast on YouTubeFind updates on new episodes & show your support hereContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACReddit post about playing online versus in personThe Nongshim CupDevin's site Baduk.ClubDevin's Baduk residency programContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.comSupport: Ko-fi

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACGazza White's Reddit post about Ing Cup statistics and trivia...a must readTop Pros mentioned: Shin Jin-seo, Ke Jie, Byun Sang-il, Cho Chikun, Takemiya MasakiTelegraph Go's YouTube channelContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.comSupport: Ko-fi

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACTelegraphGo's YouTube channelGabe's YouTube channel Strugglebus GoThe Pro Go Baduk Weiqi Podcast that Gazza White co-hosts on YouTubeShow your support with ko-fi to offset costs for this passion projectContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACKim Ouweleen/Murugandi's websiteThe SmartGo websiteA link to the GoMagic.org interview about fun scenes in Hikaru no GoShow your support with ko-fi to offset costs for this passion projectContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACKim Ouweleen/Murugandi's websiteA link to the Reddit post about the AI win rate Inaccuracy lectureA link to the Baduk.News article about using the above lecture to improve the AI win rate accuracy for BadukClub streaming eventsThe AlphaGo documentaryThe Pro Go Baduk Weiqi Podcast that Gazza White co-hosts on YouTubeShow your support with ko-fi to offset costs for this passion projectContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastACThe AlphaGo documentaryFrank Lantz's book The Beauty of Games and his article The Afterlife of GoKageyama's Lessons in the Fundamentals of GoAn excellent podcast episode about AI post-AlphaGo with Ezra KleinShow your support with ko-fi to offset costs for this passion projectContact: AllThingsGoGame@gmail.com

In dieser Podcast-Folge geht es um die Ernährung nach den fünf Elementen und speziell um das Wei-Qi, das als Abwehr-Qi bezeichnet wird und unserem Immunsystem ähnelt. Das Wei-Qi zirkuliert an der Oberfläche des Körpers und schützt vor schädlichen Umwelteinflüssen und Krankheitserregern. Es ist eng mit der Funktion der Lungen und Milz verbunden. Die Lungen spielen eine Rolle bei der Verteilung und Regulierung des Wei-Qi, während die Milz bei der Produktion des Wei-Qi aus der Nahrung beteiligt ist. Um das Wei-Qi zu stärken, werden in der Fünf-Elemente Ernährung bestimmte Prinzipien angewendet. Als Beispiel wird ein Ernährungsplan für die Stärkung der Lungenfunktion im Herbst vorgestellt, der unter anderem warmen Haferporridge mit Birnen und Zimt zum Frühstück, eine Suppe mit Hühnerbrust, Karotten, Ingwer und Lauch zum Mittagessen und gedämpften Fisch mit Brokkoli und braunem Reis zum Abendessen beinhaltet. Es wird empfohlen, kalte oder rohe Lebensmittel zu vermeiden, weiße Lebensmittel zu integrieren und ausreichend Flüssigkeit zu sich zu nehmen, um die Schleimhäute feucht zu halten.

Showdate:  10/21/21   *** OMG this was an incredibly packed show with reporters, guests and callers!!!  You have to listen! Click on "The Thinker" to start the show. Live show 6-9 am Central time weekdays, then podcast. Live Chat!  Create a free listener account to join.  International/Domestic Skype calls online - Skype name - live:.cid.fddbac53a2909de1 Bill writing site:  www.WriteYourLaws.com Email:  Greg@WriteYourLaws.com Facebook:  Action Radio with Greg Penglis - Also see "Groups" Patreon sponsors:  https://www.patreon.com/ActionRadio ***** Action Radio Show Notes:  Use the pink Timeline at the top to click anywhere in the show! 0:00 - Topics, Guests and Callers with Jean and Greg.  215 383-3832.  Main topic of the show.  Funny how what the gov't can't stop, they engage in, like the Mafia "numbers game" is now the Lottery.  Drug enforcement is now drug mandate. 30:00 - Cindie Cagle, with the Citizens for Medical Freedom Report.  There is a whole movement starting because of the Covid mandates. 1:00:00 - Bill Fetke, with The Fetke Report.  Bill returns with a scathing critique of gov't intrusion under the moniker, "if you've got nothing to hide..." 1:30:00 - The Legal Report, with Jonathon Moseley.  We had a call about a free speech case and how can folks who can't afford great lawyers can get help. 2:15:00 - Clare Lopez with the Intelligence Report.  We had a fascinating chat about Chinese philosophy in terms of the game "Weiqi" or "Go" and how that influences policies and actions of the Chinese Communist Party. Show Producer: Jean Virnig. *****

Добрый день уважаемые слушатели. Представляем новый выпуск подкаста RWpod. В этом выпуске: Ruby Rails 7 adds ActiveRecord::QueryMethods#in_order_of to return query results in a particular sequence Rails 7 adds SSL support for postgresql in bin/rails dbconsole A Compositional Approach to Optimizing the Performance of Ruby Apps Rubocop: Custom Cops for Custom Needs Using Dynamic Config Variables in Ruby on Rails Apps Let's make a message encoder in Ruby Minehunter - terminal mine hunting game How to use ESBuild in Rails with JSBundling (video) Web 13 tiny and terrific entries from the js13kGames competition Safe DOM manipulation with the Sanitizer API A Guide To CSS Debugging AdonisJS - the Node.js Framework highly focused on developer ergonomics, stability and confidence VanillaTreeViewer - a minimalist file browser for compactly displaying several files at once Xterm.js - a front-end component written in TypeScript that lets applications bring fully-featured terminals to their users in the browser BesoGo - embeddable SGF editor/viewer for the game of Go (aka Weiqi, Baduk) RWpod Cafe 27 (06.11.2021) Сбор и голосование за темы новостей

In questa puntata vediamo un po' cosa sono i vari gradi di abilità dei gliocatori (il ranking in inglese) quali sono i server più famosi per giocare online (non li cito tutti infatti mi sono dimenticato di kgs...) e i goban (tavola su cui vengono posizionate le pietre) di dimensione minore per principianti e partite veloci. Potete contattarmi su telegram per commenti e suggerimenti al profilo @gselsette. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/federico-marcelli7/message

In questa puntata vediamo da cosa è composto il set di base per giocare a go e quali sono le regole, come si muove, come si cattura e quale sia lo scopo del gioco per decretarne la vittoria o la sconfitta di un giocatore rispetto al suo avversario. Ci sono anche consigli su un bell'anime da vedere dedicato al mondo del Go: Hikaru no go. Per informazioni mi trovate come al solito su telegram mandando un messaggio a @gselsette. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/federico-marcelli7/message

Nuova serie tematica dedicata al gioco del Go. Da oggi inizieranno alcune puntate (riconoscibili dalla copertina modificata) in cui tratterò questo argomento, partendo da come si gioca, materiale occorrente per giocare, nozioni di base e quanto altro. Spero che vi appassionerete a questo gioco anche voi. Per informazioni mi trovate come al solito su telegram mandando un messaggio a @gselsette. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/federico-marcelli7/message

Weeks, months, days and years. Our sense of time has been distorted by the mechanical clock. And in this modern world, we live in an impatient timescale. Everything has to be short and concise, otherwise we get bored easily. It has been eighty-four days and our weiqi (go/baduk) game has been going strong through the social media platforms. But because we both only make one, single, move per day - everyday, the game has seen a trailing off and slow decline in viewership enthusiasm. While at the same time, a small loyal following has started to appear. This second growing group pops in from time to time, to make sure that they haven't missed much, but do not stay long because to do so would make the game too intense for them. Too intense. Stones on a board. Eighty-four days of war grinding on like a pestle and mortar. We only place one stone per day on the board. The rest of the time is filled with waiting by not waiting, studying the board or mediating over the board, peppered with lighthearted correspondence between us. These things are all good. And then... And then there are the unforeseen consequences of playing such a long game, that most players never have to deal with. On my opponent's are his pets: A dog knocking the board occasionally and a cat lying on the board of play to get his attention. And on my side, it is the endless checking and rechecking to make sure the stones haven't moved as footsteps on wooden floors tend to vibrate the stones (ever-so-slightly) off their positions. And then there's the dust. The endless accumulating dust... Mother Nature is always there. She does what she wants. In her way subtly messing with us and seeing if we have noticed. I bring her up because we humans have trained ourselves up to believe that war and warfare is just between humans and what humans do to each other. This is a massive illusionary distortion created by our focus on the hero's adventure as the man who knows everything and can do everything just like that. And yet, just because there's a war on, it does not mean that soldiers are fighting everyday. Maybe in their minds they are, but not physically. In between the fighting, life still goes on. Life goes on and creates its own mess. And so long as we only have this planet to live on, our brilliant ideas of how things should be, will (sometimes) just have to take a rain-cheque on reality and we will have to accept how things really are. Even though I'm imparting on you a Taoist pearl of wisdom, this has nothing to do with spirituality but is just down-to-earth boots-on-the-ground reality. ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Instagram: @baguazhang_

Well, it has finally happened. I have died and come back. And through it all, I just kept on playing the game with my American opponent. One move per day: One black stone for him and one white stone for me. Now, I didn't actually die but an attempt to shut the game down was made. It came from a source that on one level had nothing to do with the game, yet the signs were there in hindsight. So now you, dear listener, must be wondering what's so special about the game we are playing? On the surface, to that question, the answer is nothing. But on a deeper level, the game represents a world in which that source (I'm referring too) has been eliminated by the fact that they just don't exist and therefore are irrelevant. This may seem totally ridiculous and not worth trying to shut the game down for, but imagine a world in which your whole idea of the game, for example, revolves around The Middle Kingdom and who controls it. And then, all of a sudden - POOF! The Middle Kingdom is no longer in the middle. If your frame of reference no longer exists as an ongoing concern, what then? What should have happened was to relearn the game and not live off the coat tails of previous sages. Instead, what did happen was that nobody was allowed to play the game on home ground. And so nobody did or does. Which is in the game of weiqi how you lose stones: Surround and capture. One moment a group of stones exist on the board, and then, in the next moment they no longer exist. Sucked straight out of the game's reality and into the basket of no return. Except of course, if you play by the rules of “Upper Management”. These so called Shen or spirit stones have a habit of dying off the weiqi board and then reappearing somewhere else to fuck up whatever strategy or tactic was in motion. These Shen or spirit stones exist so that The Middle Kingdom does not stagnate and die from isolation. They move and act by the paradigms that only the Jade Emperor can elect. No earthly governance can force Heaven's Will. So when a game of weiqi has begun, it must be allowed to play itself out to its own conclusion; least the ramifications be manifested in the physical (jurisdiction) ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_

It's been fifty-one days. Fifty-one days of fifty-one black stones and fifty-one white stones vying for control over the weiqi (go/baduk) board. That is longer than the recent hot war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And we are still going strong. Which is a good thing because both of us would love to drop a daisycutter on each others' asses, but the ratings seem to favour death by ninja stealth more. And so, we take things slow and watch the intensity build as we try to force each other's hand to bend to our will. What I find really interesting, is how much of it is emotionally affecting the viewership. Without having a direct say in how the game will progress, it is in some ways more intense for them than it is for us, the actual players. Sure, I spend time calculating the moves. But I don't spend all day on it. In some ways playing one move per day is easier to manage strategically and tactically. What really is trying on my nerves is the waiting game. Waiting for my opponent to make his move - play his stone - so that I can respond in kind. Now for those of you who think it will last forever like a TV show past its use-by-date, you really are poor with numbers regardless of how nerdy smart you project yourselves out to be. The game only has 181 black stones and 180 white stones. And yes, the English websites are wrong. You do not get an infinite number of stones. And the updated Chinese Professional gaming rules miss the point by trying to make the number of stones equal to both sides. War and politics is never a fair fight. It is deliberately meant to be unfair. My opponent requested the match after reading my book '圍棋戰聖: The Weiqi Art of War'. And so it is his game, his world, his establishment. It is my job to take it away from him. And every morning that's what happens. The game is our breakfast newspaper. No Murdoch here. No Great Wall of China, and no North Korean rubbish. This war between us is a good stuff upper lip of calculated Dim Mak targeting. Now on a side note: True Dim Mak is the art of targeting an opponent's vital or pressure points. In an actual battle it rarely works and that's why fighters say it is fake. Real Dim Mak is more like an assassination or surgical strike designed to knock out an opponent 'BEFORE' an actual fight, so that a war is unnecessary. But again, history has proven that it sometimes does not work. In our weiqi game, the war is already happening. Here a successful Dim Mak strike will end it ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_

So much of martial arts these days is focused on the physical. Can a person kick, punch and wrestle to overcome their opponent (if there is one)? Yet, as I play weiqi or Go against my American opponent, I start to understand that the over-reliance on the physical, is just a mask. A mask to hide deep fundamental flaws in one's training. And that flaw is the rejection of what it means to be human as opposed to just being an animal. We humans are sentient beings, who have overcome our natural adversaries by cultivating our minds to such an extent, that compared to our closest animal cousins, we might as well be gods to them. For, it wasn't our physical abilities that put us at the top of the food chain. Both, me and my opponent, do baguazhang and qigong. The baguazhang takes care of our physical realms. While the Qigong takes care of our energetic realms. What you are seeing on the Go board is what happens when these two modalities of baguazhang and qigong are transferred onto the mental realm. And both sides are using guerilla warfare to kill each other in the dark. But in order to do that, we both are using the game to develop our 'situational awareness' capabilities. The capability of being aware of your opponent and their moves in advance of them being played, when one does not know their opponent well. And it is far harder to do than it looks on the board. Imagine an opponent in the ring, who can appear and disappear at will. No matter how good you are at wrestling or boxing, you are constantly trying to figure out in advance where they will materialise, so that you can strike before they strike. And then, not every move appears like a traditional strike from them, even though it is. What then? Does that mean your martial arts, including you MMA guys, is useless? Well, that depends... You may be the best in the ring, on the mat or in the cage, but most people are not. And so, they will not fight you directly. They will twist the battle onto the terrain of their choosing and defeat you there. And you see it all the time. Guys who are at the top of their game brought low by a situation that they have no real skills to deal with. Coming, seemingly out of the blue, it hits them where they are most vulnerable. And as expected, the pain point is never their physical ability. So cut the bullshit about adding more and more rules and handicaps to the game and train your mental abilities like a B2 bomber about to unload it's shit on your dumbass! ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_

So recently while playing against my American opponent, we both have come to enjoy the pace of our game, with each of us making one move per day. This gives us both twenty-four hours to ponder over our moves before we must place a stone on the board. And despite the thousands of mental calculations possible, both of us settle down to a handful of possible moves. And it's really a case of hypothetical theory meets practical reality. With the facts on the ground dictating the way things will move forward. Since this is the first time we have played against each other, both of us have gone in blind to the game. And if you've been following the game on Instagram or Facebook, then you've been witnessing what happens when two civilisations, who have been unaware of each other, suddenly make contact. They must find a way to co-exist before the inevitable power struggle ensues. For us, we have managed to hold off for about thirty days or sixty moves. Which is impressive in itself, given that most wars on the Go board start around the seventh stone played. Why we are attacking each other now, is that both of us have come to realise that for this game, each stone is putting on the squeeze for both of us. And our ability to avoid conflict reduces with each passing day. In short: When a given territory is finite, the pressures of life will eventually lead to conflict. And that conflict will happen, regardless if it's wanted or not. It is for these reasons (and others) that the gongfu masters of yore, chose a lot of the time to live in the wild. Peace was found amongst nature. When too many masters congregated in one place for too long, the fights would start. Essentially we are talking about turf wars. And it doesn't matter what the style is. It all boils down to who controls the resources available. And if it's of limited supply, it is valuable and worth fighting over. At some point every master, in their way, will make their move and try to claim a piece of the action. It can be as stupid as claiming how ancient a style is or who the legendary ancestor is, even though there is no proof to the claims. And that is what you are seeing on the Go board. We are both arguing over mining rights, as they say, while building up our private armies for the inevitable civil war that is to come. If you find yourself in a similar situation in business or life in general, but don't know why, the thing you must know is that your opponent wants what you have, because it is the same thing you want from them. And there's only so much of it to go around ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_

Thanks to the success of my little book '圍棋戰聖: The Weiqi Art of War', it has inspired people to pick up the game, and use playing the game as a way to develop their strategic thinking in business, life, war and in areas of life I would not of thought of being related. Well actually... When I think about it, it should not surprise me at all. The game of weiqi (go/baduk), after all, is a form of intense qigong cultivation summed up in the whole act of committing to a move upon the board. And you can see this happening by way of how a player's breathing is altered with the intensity of their focus as the sucks them into its battlefield vortex. But that is only the base level of qigong cultivation. What the real aim of using weiqi to cultivate one's qi is about, is to find one's sense of detachment from the game while playing the game. This does not mean having a flippant, non-chalant whatever goes attitude. Because that path usually leads to defeat. Nor does it mean relying on mechanical devices like clock timers to set the pace, for that is an artificial handicap. And it is a bit like relying on a semi-automatic rifle to compensate for a lack of combat skills. True detachment allows a person to see the game as a whole entity, even of most of the focus is held up by a small battle in one area of the board from time to time, so that the real final victory can be achieved with grace and ease. True detachment also allows a person to see what their opponent needs in order to be able to surrender with honour. Now I know what you are thinking: What? My opponent wants to surrender? Or it could be you thinking: What? I want to surrender? I don't think so. But it is true. Some people have an unrealised death-wish. But not for the reasons one would think. Many people require, like a caterpillar, to go through the act of death so that they can go through the act of rebirth, like the butterfly. And they require their opposite to deliver the deathblow in an honourable setting. And it is through the process of dying and being reborn many times over upon the weiqi board that they discover the true power of their individual qi as it relates uniquely to them. This is the art of qigong cultivation through the game of weiqi (go/baduk) ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_

Thank you Edwardo (not his real name) for your question. Why should you indeed. Hmmmm... Here's my reply mixed in with a "wait, but there's more" sales pitch! But seriously, you purchase the book on Amazon.com Just click on the link to take you directly there

Yup, that's right! The Weiqi Art of War is now on Amazon.com both on the Kindle platform and as a paperback. Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_

For those of you who do not like the idea that Weiqi is a war, perhaps it could be better fathomed as a dialogue between two antagonistic players, who are ready to back their words up with force. But the skill lies not in direct confrontation. Rather, the aim is to outmaneuver one's opponent and influence as much territory as possible before it comes to blows. It was this constant strategic maneuvering that makes The Cold War the real third world war. So for those of you who are still waiting for World War Three to start, I've got news for you: It ended three decades ago. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a short inter-war period of relative peace. And then on September 11th, 2001 it all started up again... When we look at the global big picture we've been 'strummin'it through World War Four and nobody has noticed. But then, that's the nature of most humans: Dreaming of a past that never existed while wishing for a future that will never come. While in the meantime, those that are aware of the nature of the game, are seizing territory all over the place. Striking deals over here while living in gangsta paradise over there. And sadly, there are certain countries around the world that have or are becoming Weiqi boards in which players can agree to be the worst of enemies while still in other places be the best of friends. I guess I could say that about all chess games but I am a Weiqi (Go/Baduk) player. And each chess game is based on different focuses with different scales. Western chess is strongly focused on the politics within castle walls. Chinese chess focuses on unifying a country already divided under one banner. And Japanese chess or Shogi is interesting as it allows for mercenaries – a reflection of the time when the samurai were in ascendancy. Whatever the chess game, Weiqi is the most abstract and the most simple: A stone is just a stone and once played, it stays played. The only way a stone can leave the board or move is if it is captured. Every move is final. If you happen to be a stone played upon your own board, it must take a lot of nerve and a lot of inner reconciliation to realise that the only way you are going to exit the game is through death? Acceptance of death. The way of the samurai is found in death. The samurai takes each day as if it is the last. A zen precept along the Tao ⚔️圍棋戰聖

Listen to the story of Yao the Great, the first of the 3 great legends of China. He's most famous for inventing the game WeiQi, which is still played today in China

Listen to the story of Yao the Great, the first of the 3 great legends of China. He's most famous for inventing the game WeiQi, which is still played today in China.

The future is not fixed. It is forever changing by the decisions and actions we make in the right here and now. Even our thoughts and feelings in the present moment can be a major factor in how it all plays out, one stone at a time. As I am sitting here at my kitchen table, it is early morning and a light fog is slowly clearing up. I have a stick of Japanese incense burning nearby and I'm wondering about whether or not to make myself a cup of tea? If I do, then the noise may wake up the rest of my household. And if I don't, then I have a very good chance of having this quiet moment to myself. It's nice. Peaceful. Even the old fridge humming in the background is peaceful. And now... The moment has passed. The incense has died down and while I'm remembering the game of Weiqi (Go/Baduk) I played for the seventh time yesterday – I can hear the clanging and clinking of the stones as they touch the board. The game I've been studying is a simple game. Not too many moves. Only about one hundred and thirty stones before white resigns; with just two of its stones captured. Every game played is exactly the same. Like most professional Weiqi games: Start at the corners and then after about six moves, one side goes on the probing attack. There's a little tussle and then a break of a few stones and then a second engagement. Maybe for the players it was intensely exciting because the championship title and prize money was worth it, but from a higher plane, humans are rather predictable. We live a very ordered life of ups and downs. It is only when we try to control the control, or try to make more ordered what is already very much in order, that we suddenly lose the control and begin to unravel into the chaos. I know this makes no sense to some people. But if I go back to the game I was playing yesterday, it took seven replays to have gone deep enough to find the exact moment in okay where white starts to unravel and become obsessed with control and order: It was black's turn. Number eighty-one. Not exactly an attacking move. White had options but a blind mistake was made. When a country becomes obsessed with control and order, at the expense of agreements made, then that is a clear sign madness has set in. Imagine a Go board being played by two celestial dragons, for that is what Xūn (巽) from the I-Ching portrays. Those two little coiling strokes at the top are dragons in heaven, while the grid below them is the Weiqi board. The Weiqi board symbolises their world. And life can only exist while they are in a state of play. Symbolically those two little coiling strokes at the top represent the traditional Chinese character for dragon or Lóng (龍), which in fact is actually two dragons. And because they're conjoined, they happen to be two Yang energies merging to create one powerful Yin energy: This is the spiritual fengshui reason why nearly every nation or tribe that has tried to conquer China, has ended up being absorbed and becoming Chinese themselves. But now China uses the simplified character for dragon (龙). This dragon, she has lost her mate. And is off-balance. Hence, the Weiqi board only has black stones on it. Where have all the white stones gone? In a sense she has won. But what has she won? Is she is gripped by the madness of her partner being a ghost? What ninja skills are these? Did white leave and play on another board? For that is what it looks like. It doesn't take a genius to see where this is heading ⚔️圍棋戰聖

瑩八歲，能詠詩，泌七歲，能賦棋。 彼穎悟，人稱奇，爾幼學，當效之。 莹八岁，能咏诗，泌七岁，能赋棋。 彼颖悟，人称奇，尔幼学，当效之。 Yíng bā suì, néng yǒng shī, mì qī suì, néng fù qí. Bǐ yǐngwù, rén chēngqí, ěr yòu xué, dāng xiào zhī. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ＜ English Translation＞ Zu Ying of the Northern Qi Dynasty could recite poetries at the age of eight. Li Bi of the Tang Dynasty at seven years of age could write poems on the topic of playing Weiqi (the game of Go). People are amazed at their talent and called them prodigies, but their excellence was more the result of their passion and diligent study. Children should follow these good examples and study hard from a young age. ＜ Explanation in simplified＞⁣　 北齐的祖莹八岁就能吟诗，唐朝的李泌七岁时，即以下棋为题作诗赋。他们的聪明才智人人称奇，可他们的「天才」更多是因为喜爱读书、勤奋求学。所以小朋友应当以他们为榜样，从小努力，才能有所成就。 ＜ Explanation in traditional＞⁣ 北齊的祖瑩八歲就能吟詩，唐朝的李泌七歲時，即以下棋為題作詩賦。他們的聰明才智人人稱奇，可他們的「天才」更多是因為喜愛讀書、勤奮求學。所以小朋友應當以他們為榜樣，從小努力，才能有所成就。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to leave a message, thought, suggestion, feedback to me. 如果你对内容有任何问题，想法，建议，都可以留言给我 https://open.firstory.me/story/ck9v7bjsoqivi0873td4ux1gc?m=comment It would be a big help if you kindly support my channel with a cup of coffee 欢迎买杯咖杯赞助我的频道，你的小小支持是我的大大帮助 ☕ https://pay.firstory.me/user/taiwanaccent Powered by Firstory Hosting

⚫ Would you believe me, if I told you that I haven't played a game of Weiqi in over two weeks? ⚪ Would you believe me, if I told you that I haven't played a game of Igo in over two weeks? ⚫ If you are of the calaber, I think you are, then you'd be wondering: What's the difference? ⚪ Is there a difference? ⚫ Not really. ⚪ Unless, of course, like a lot of small-time players, extra rules keep being added. All in the name of a fairer game. But that's like living a sheltered life indoors when we know that the real world is outside in the great yonder. ⚫ I know that there are people who have no idea of what my podcasts are about. No matter how many times they listen to them. Every episode is a real mind ending headscratcher. ⚪ And then there are people who get what they need and move on. ⚫ Weiqi or Go is like that: It reveals itself to the viewer; whether player or observer where they are at, in terms of their relationship with the outside world. And the sad truth is, if you're one of those people who loves to add rules in the interests of being fair, then you are just deluding yourself. ⚪ You are not being fair. In fact, adding extra rules is like putting up walls. It is those very same walls that makes one blind to what is going on, on the other side. ⚫ Which is sad, really, because we are the first living generation to be mentally and consciously aware of the global changes around us as they are happening. And they are accelerating at a pace that makes them irreversible. ⚪ But present for the Weiqi player in the throughs of mastering the Art of War undreamt of opportunities. ⚫ Do the calculations for yourself. ⚪ Play out a game of doomsday and see it for yourself: Are you The End or are you The Beginning? ⚫ Or are you a stone on the board making war against your neighbours? ⚪ I do not judge. War is the sharp human end of sudden changes that we sometimes must endure, just so that we can get to the promised land, because peace isn't always the opposite of war. ⚫ The alternative is more often a slow grinding down between a pestle and mortar existence. ⚪ We can have peace but that does not mean that the wars will stop ⚔️圍棋戰聖

For most people, if they know the game of Weiqi (or Go, as it is more popularly known) is just another strategy game. If they do get any good at it, then maybe they will choose to go professional. For this is the path proscribed for most people in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan, wanting to master the game. However, if you are listening to this podcast or any one of the other Weiqi Art of War podcasts, then you, in your deepest of hearts are wanting something more. And the name of that game is "World Domination". The game of Weiqi goes beyond just money and consumerist satisfaction. You are here because you want more. Much more. And you dare to dream big. Really big. And you are here because you need a way to express this desire. When two people decide to play Weiqi, what they see is not just another board waiting to be played but an untouched world; A blank slate waiting for one player to be the dominant force at the end. Maybe some of you can relate to this sensation, even if it is not literally thee world, or a continent or some country somewhere. It could just be your world as defined by you. And so, while we prepare for world domination, we use Weiqi to test our battle theories. Not against people who think like us, but against people who want different things and are prepared to get in the way of success. We deliberately face-off against opponents like these, so that we have a simple way to test the beauty of our plans while watching them crumble in the face of some of the most mundane human stuff out there. It helps to think of it like this: Your Weiqi strategy is to play with moves that resemble high powered boardroom takeovers, and you're prepared for either hostile takeovers or counter-coup-d'états. But your whole strategy starts to unravel because your opponent's strategy is based upon their reality of going to the shops to buy a loaf of bread. Your strategy is unravelling because their reality is different to your reality and in the process of living a different life to yours, their car crashes into your car and you're delayed for your showdown. Same planet but two players living in two different realities. By being a simple game of stones on a board that only gets played once, it forces us to confront these contradictions. While the example given is a bit extreme, it highlights why these days most wars tend to drag on way longer than needed. And why very few leaders can match their grand words with grand actions. If there is to be another world war, the lessons from the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) Art of War will reveal it to be highly exciting in the movies, but a ho-hum letdown in real life; Saved by a guy in traffic eating a meat pie, who's life will forever stay unremarkable ⚔️圍棋戰聖

When the tides of fortune are flowing in your favour, problems can now be resolved. Even if a situation has reached a stalemate because too many obstacles stand in the way of further progress. This is because the other side's condition is not in their favour anymore and they have decided to make a strategic withdrawal, even though, they appear to be in a stronger position. For observors of the game, the situation upon the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) board has reached crisis point. There is a sense that the pressure is of such magnitude, that something has to give. And yet, any hope of success means taking huge risks! Situations like these come and go all the time. And yet, very few of us are able to take decisive advantage. Even if we have repeatedly experienced it. And unless you have access to the nuclear option and are willing to use it, the popular slogan of quote - taking massive action - unquote, is just not a card option on the table. So what's to be done about this betting connundrum? The answer is to employ Suntzu's strategy number thirteen regarding spies. Placing stones on the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) board in such a way, that one's opponent unwittingly reveals their hand or at the very least is forced to change their strategy and tactics. And by staying aware of the changes of states between the before and the after, this is the Art of Mindfulness when it comes to the Art of War. If you don't believe me, in one of the books I'm currently reading, which is called "The Physics of Wall Street: A brief history of predicting the unpredictable", by James Owen Weatherall, there is a line on page 95 (of my version) under chapter four called "Beating the Dealer" which says: Information flows and your money grows. And it has to do with an equation called the Kelly criterion or Kelly bet size. Now I won't get too deeply into this book except to inspire you to read it for yourself. Through the book's influence, I have started teaching my children the card game Blackjack or Twenty-one to help them get better at mathematics, spotting patterns as it relates to information gathering and how casinos work the numbers to always stay in profit. Without me having to do anything much, my children very quickly discovered that they enjoyed being the dealer more than betting their Easter eggs. As I've told my kids on numerous occasions, casinos very rarely go bust. But if they do, then something else is at work. The weaker white stone challenger is meant to, by the deliberate disadvantages place upon it, find creative solutions to beating the black stone master. While the black stone master's role, if he or she is not a teacher of the game, is to find the resolve to stay number one without imploding into civil war. This is partly done by using your eyes and ears to feel the pulse on the ground by learning a little about the physics of Wall Street from a higher plane of fortitude ⚔️圍棋戰聖: For further details the publisher is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, or in Oceania by Scribe Publishing ISBN 9781921640452

Recently while playing a bit of Weiqi (Go/Baduk), I had for the fourth time come across a dilemma that only reveals itself when a player repeatedly plays a certain game. This dilemma is the inexplicable sensation one gets that while the end result remains always the same, just like the starting plays, there is a sense that during the game the sequential order of play keeps rearranging itself. I know this sounds crazy and in the tangible, if you are hearing this, nothing physical actually changes. It is the perception of what is happening that keeps changing. And that constantly changing perception is what is confusing the brain and leading to the alternate reality of things floating about in water. I bring this up because the wars fought on the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) board are very much about the two strongest realities: Yin and Yang deciding which will be the dominate reality to come. For most of human experience, Yin and Yang are best viewed as influences. Unseen hands that move in mysterious ways. Taking turns to hold sway over each other that for the most part have no direct bearing on our lives. The seasons come and go like night and day. But then a stone gets played on the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) board with such impact that it's repercussions are eventually felt by all the other stones on the board. Eventually. The stone that got cast over Wuhan, China, was such a stone. And while we are still self-isolation and doing what the powers-that-be want us to do, it may be too little too late. I say this because all the hardest hit countries lie between latitudes 30° north and 45° north of the equator in a nice straight line. What this could possibly mean is that the virus is floating along a jet stream air current in a band around the earth and drifting down. So right now, the United States is being hit hardest. And as this invisible cloud drifts westward along the North Pacific, it will eventually reach Japan and re-infect China all over again. And yet none of what I'm saying makes much sense unless it is understood that in an alternative reality Wuhan is a volcano and the virus is an ash-cloud encircling the earth. Something of which I will leave for sci-fi freaks to enjoy. But in this reality of which we exist in, I am just playing a Weiqi (Go/Baduk) game in which the bottom half of the board has shapes that remind me of North America, Europe and Asia. While the upper half of the board has this massive landmass that I just can't make heads or tails of. What to do? What to do? ⚔️圍棋戰聖

As Coronavirus COVID-19 spreads around the globe, a growing number of people can't help but wonder if the virus is man-made? So far the numbers of people directly dying from the disease has been extremely low compared to the overall world human population. And yet, the virus has managed to induce such a dramatic response that whole economies are shutting down and countries are in lockdown. On top of all that, the rhetoric used to justify these responses are starting to sound more and more like the soundbites used when a country is about to go to war with another country. Now it could be that the virus is a completely natural mutation without any man-made manipulation. That at some future point would have occurred anyway, based on statistical probability modelling. But the fact remains, if it were all natural, and I was inclined to want to conquer the world or just a neighbouring country, this virus is a gift from the gods. It would constitute a first strike without having a first strike, because in the interests of self protection we have unwittingly exposed our weaknesses and created a downward spiralling situation that few people in authority are paying attention to. While I might sound like a molehill trying to act like a mountain, this situation in its many varied forms had been played out in countless sci-fi and thriller novels of the 1980's and 1990's. With those, having read these novels, being subconsciously or unconsciously influenced enough to heed the early warning signs without realising it. So with each passing day in self-isolation, I am learning of martial artists, Weiqi players, I-Ching and Qigong masters who are starting to become aware of the hundreds of tiny changes they have been making to their lives so that they can effortlessly sail through this situation and be ready for second strike. Which is increasingly looking like third strike brought forward. Second strike was supposed to have been the collapse of the financial markets brought on by either poorly executed decisions by people infected by a virus or the system directly infected by a computer virus. Whatever the case maybe, the lessons from "The Weiqi Art of War" indicate that the Coronavirus is one of a number of forgotten stones played at the start of the game, but only comes into play when it is too late because it links enough unrelated stones nearby into one coherent front that suddenly tips the balance over ⚔️圍棋戰聖

Nineteen by nineteen is the grid. Followed by 361 points of connection. After being told yet again how great and powerful artificial intelligence is at winning over human competition, I have been tempted to give up the game. But the thing is, for me the game of Go or Weiqi is more than just a game. It is a multidimensional window into the workings of the human mind. And more specifically my opponent's mind. Artificial intelligence can only learn, adapt and mould its response to changing circumstances. It cannot by itself create a new reality out of its environment. And must adhere to whatever programming its creators put into it. In short, artificial intelligence is an illusion. The Go master is tricked beforehand into believing it is real. Yes, it is real in a tangible mechanical way. But it is not real in the way the mind is real. The illusionary trick is the insurance policy enacted by the programmers masking the fact that it is the programmers playing the game of Go against the master. And it is not just one programmer, but a group of programmers working in concert to take the master down. In other words: Defeat by Committee. Had it been one Go board per programmer, the situation would favour the master. But by going through a computer program, the rules are circumvented, in that the master is facing all the programmers simultaneously in that one move. Nor does the master know how many programmers are involved. The variable probabilities are just mind-blowing. It's the mental equivalent of being thrown into a ring with half a dozen fighters, who all attack you at the same time. Good luck in surviving that one. In the end the Go master is defeated through slow mental exhaustion. Death by a thousand little cuts. The prey taken down by a pack of hyenas ⚔️圍棋戰聖

They say sometimes losing is a form of winning. Who they are, I don't know. But experience has shown me many times that it's not the losing that is winning but that we sometimes have to lose first in order to win second. Now to be clear, I do not recommend this strategy unless you know what you are doing and have a clear goal that justifies the means. Otherwise you are liable to get labelled a loser. And I've never heard of a guy getting a free fuck because they're losers. It just doesn't happen. And yet at the other extreme end, when we are winning all the time, the ground below can shift without us being aware. Recently I played Weiqi (Go/Baduk) with my close friend Andy. It had been more than nine months since our last game, of which I had won. That had been a rare victory against him. In the vast majority of our games he'd win because his winning formula is to always play defensively until I'd run out of novel strategies. And as anybody familiar to the game can attest, nine times out ten, playing defence is the stronger position. So it won't be surprising when I say that Andy's chosen career is IT security. So here we are, at our latest game together. Aware that Andy will take the defensive line and probably win. So I thought to myself, why bother attacking all the time? While it helps him with his work, I am currently in transition and don't feel like being the aggressor. For the first time in my life I decided to play defensively, and see what happens. What happened, was that only half of the board - my half got played before I surrendered. I fought for every stone and sacrificed none, thereby losing any means of winning the war. On his side of the board there were only five stones and all of them were his. A one-sided whitewash. On post-analysis of the game, it became clear just how much he needed me to play aggressively and push him to breaking point. He never gets that playing online amongst players obsessed with ever increasing rules and handicaps. Not to mention how many people are leaving the game because artificial intelligence and it's perceived unbeatability. As he put it: I'm a General and should act like one! And for me... I went home. Lit some incense from Mount Koya in Japan and performed Chazen in front of an alter I keep handy for moments like these. Inhale slowly. Exhale slowly. And allow myself to brush a Haiku. ⚔️圍棋戰聖

☳ Because Baguazhang 八卦掌 is a martial art that utilises physical palm changes and sudden circular directional turns, it can be difficult to make sense of what's what in the cyclonic tornado that marks the style. ☵ Staying focused on the target is not always easy to achieve when confronted by multiple moving distractions. And therefore something needs to help the brain process information faster, with reasonable accuracy, than the body's instinctual responses are able to. ☶ Back in the days when computers didn't generally exist, and most martial artists weren't the academic type to sit still and study all day, playing Weiqi or Go 圍碁 was used. ☰ Rather than studying theory all day, the higher levels of strategy could be taught in a fun way in just a couple of hours. And because Weiqi 圍碁 is about encircling stones, it was a natural side-dish to the circular movements of Baguazhang 八卦掌 itself compared to the more square startegies and tactics of other board games. ☷ And through repeated playing of the game, the brain is able to rewire itself at a more deeper instinctual level before testing it all out in the so-called Real World where most martial artists, from overthinking in the heat of the moment, are typically unable to survive the blitzkrieg strategy usually employed by more seasoned fighters. ☱ For those of you not into chess of any sort, the nearest "going around in circles" board game would be Monopoly. The game of Monopoly is about money and property investing. And as such it has its own rules to winning. ☲ In those rules to winning, there is a strong relationship between those good at the game and good at turning a buck through property. And the level of property wealth is directly proportional to how well they grasped the game. ☴ While it is popular to use the phrase "keeping it real" or "staying grounded" as the alternative saying to the same thing, those who have actually experienced what it means to keep it real, there is a strong desire to NOT be grounded too much. But to actually find a way to rise above the muck before the need to do battle is no longer optional because once it is no longer optional, the resulting consequences can be fatal.

While recently I have been adventuring around the fringes of qigong, regarding pendants and how to use them to facilitate the acceleration of qi cultivation, I kept as always my baguazhang practice going alongside my i-ching. To me, baguazhang, i-ching, qigong, chazen, weiqi and bingfa or the Art of War, are all just pretty much one thing. Just like seeing with the eyes different objects but knowing underneath it all, it is just energy; Energy expressed in different forms. So in amongst my little adventure, I found the time to play some weiqi. Black stones and white stones circling each other again and again, until a pattern emerges. Or even better, a fundamental realization that can be shared with my readers and listeners... The Art of Weiqi War is about conducting warfare by using weiqi as a guiding tool. This is its origin. It does not necessarily mean one needs to actually fight. Because fighting is seen as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted. I repeat: When all other options have been exhausted. However, with the way things tend to go with some people, it seems like fighting is the only option available. And so, winning without harming others is an impossibility for them. And this impossibility, which is a creation of the reality they wish to live in, is also their prison. The violence they project on others, becomes their attempt to overcome or control the beast they have created. Which is funny in a not good way, because the greatest strength the game of Go has to offer is how to place massed troops around a given territory so that if war comes, winning is easy. The Art of Weiqi War is about having military bases strategically located here and there. At the same time, the use of troop deployment becomes the subtle art of putting the squeeze on one's opponent in an effort to get them to either capitulate to one's will or force them to trip up in such a way that one remains clean, while having the moral right to defend oneself against a supposed aggressor. And the whole enterprise is an art. Something that cannot be easily deduced through rational thought, science or mathematical calculations. For, not all decisions are made by the head. A lot of it is done by the heart or crutch. Nevermind the spiritual stuff. Although for people who do things on base instincts, everything above the waistline can seem like spiritual woo-woo. I had a reminder of it today when I was in a beautiful park and I listened into a group of loud teenage boys strolling past me. Almost three quarters of their conversations, no matter how mundane the topic kept turning into threats of violence against each other or quasi-insults that led to threats of violence. I say, quasi-insults because half the time what one person perceived as an insult to me sounded more like either a compliment or just a typical everyday question. But I could be wrong. Things change. Energetically I felt nothing. No charge or need to do anything but let it pass. If it had been a weiqi move, then I guess a stone was placed too close for comfort and I was being put on notice. At least that is what somebody thinking loud and obnoxious would do. Until of course it is my turn and I'm wondering what the obnoxiousness is distracting me from? I would go after that instead... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/ ⚔️圍棋戰聖

I am always amazed at the thoughts that play in my head when I am playing Weiqi (Go/Baduk). The world around me gets put aside, and both me and the world get a bit of me time: Time out from all the weekly bullshit circulating around. If there is a cup of tea beside me, then it becomes the more tranquil moment of "Tea Time equals Me Time". And in that moment, while I am playing – clarity shows up. It's kind of cool to know that while the world is preparing to bash itself silly, I have a way to transcend the looming world war. A war, that if seen from above the drama, actually may be a profitable enterprise for both sides. Several months ago, I replayed an interesting game in which neither side drew any blood, even though eventually one side did win by causing the other side to resign. When I played it on my own plastic mat, it just didn't make sense. Where was the turning point? What caused the capitulation? What was I searching for? The answer eluded me. When I played the same game on my new leather mat, the change of terrain suddenly opened the possibility of being able to see the answers to those very same questions I had been asking. Now, I should be relating weiqi to the art of war, and if you listened carefully you will notice that I am staying on key. The art of war is more than just bullets and guns. Sometimes it's about the numbers — The real numbers. By playing the game for a second time and just letting go of the desire of trying to control the outcome, the numbers start lining up, and the path toward profitability starts showing itself. Now to be honest, the path was always there. The only thing that had changed was the way in which I played the game. The game will always be the game. Politics, economics and war will always be what it is. And they come and go like alternating stones on a Weiqi board. But how a person choses to respond to the circumstances, as they are, in the moment of play is what makes the difference. I chose to take myself out. To leave the board for a while. And in by doing it, the great game went from bigger than me to something just sitting there on a table waiting for the next move. I drop out and then I drop back in. To those locked in the game and who choose to stay through the drama, people like me behave like ghosts – coming and going. Doing what we do. And if you understand what's been said, then at some level you are playing your game in a similar way... Connect with me @ linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/ ⚔️圍棋戰聖

Last month I promised myself that if I had a highly successful and profitable tea business for that month, I would reward myself with a new Weiqi mat. And so, I made my financial targets for that month and at my local Taiwanese bookstore I bought a new Weiqi mat. Beautiful: Bold black lines printed on soft brown leather. Just beautiful. Finally I put aside my old Chinese-made plastic mat and let go of the symbolic elemental meaning of plastic. Plastic represents that, which is man-made and cannot be naturally found in nature. It represents the need for control over the forces of chaos. And so symbolically to play on a plastic Weiqi mat is to be either order/control or chaos. Now, I do have a beautiful wooden board, but because of its bulk, I rarely like to play on it. I prefer the portability and mobility of a leather mat. And I particularly enjoy the way the marble stones quietly hit it. There is a certain elegance in doing things softly like a powerful lion in the tall grass. Power and grace coming together for the kill! And so that was my month. This month I endeavour to exceed my targets by a couple of thousand dollars. And all to be done with grace and ease, while using the new may in the form of an abstract map to help guide the way forward. Already I have found the new leather mat to be better at differentiating the black and white stones into clear patterns of give and take. Something of which was hard to see previously. This fluidity-in-motion reminds me of Aikido, the highly refined Japanese martial art of being in union with the way of energy. Which in layman's terms means to grasp which way the flame is burning, regardless of the fluxing commentaries, because the master is above the immediate dramas that tend to captivate and then drown its victim ⚔️圍棋戰聖

While the upside of Baguazhang is that a fighter gets to fight outside of the ring as something like a phantom. The downside of Baguazhang is that war is fought on the individual immediate level: Every experience is felt personally and direct. There is no room for abstraction. When it comes to the I-Ching and the I-Ching Art of War, one is in the set-up stage that happens way before any inkling of war has dawned on the smartest of people. Here we are making decisions and making moves that can easily be changed, if circumstances dictate it. There are very few masters around the world who are able to win an I-Ching based war. As we are dealing with forces far beyond ordinary people's comprehension. And while the law of cause and effect, and physics still hold true, many of the imports and corresponding outputs are hard to explain with plausibility. But it works. For those not sure, it's best to view the I-Ching as a close-counsellor helping you to make policy. And by consultation, you engage in the process of defining the very war you seek to engage in. Now, the Weiqi Art of War lies somewhere in the middle of the two; Where Baguazhang is tactical, Weiqi is strategic. And where the I-Ching is consultive, Weiqi is the tangible moves born out of those consultations. It is war fought, when there is no war being fought because the tit-for-tat moves are played out too far apart. A modern example of this would be the dispute between Iran and the United States of America. While there has so far not been a traditional war between the two countries in which the soldiers can use their combat skills, the Weiqi Art of War has been in play since at least the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Shorten the time lapses between events and it would start to look very much like war. So now you may ask, why not just make peace or just get the war over and done with? Well, that would be like quitting the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) game. As hard as it may be to believe, but sometimes being enemies is good for business. In business it is called competition. And while it is supposed to benefit the consumer, very few of us notice the cartels running it right in front of our faces. No conspiracy theories here. It's just the way things are at the moment. And as long as the money keeps flowing, it will remain so. And that is where it will end: No more stones to play – empty and run out of moves. Only then will it be time to switch to the Baguazhang's version of war ⚔️圍棋戰聖

Like all games of chess, from whatever country or culture they came from, the end result or aim is always the same: Dominion over one's defined territory. That "defined territory" is marked by the outer borders of the game itself. And both players elect by the rules of the game to stay on or within those marked lines. Hence, people who are good at Weiqi are also very good at fighting civil wars. The stronger the player, the better they are at turning the fears and uncertainties of the chaotic situation into a profitable exercise. So if that is the case, why then, do civil wars last far longer than wars between two or more countries? The simplest answer, that which I have seen, observed and experienced through Weiqi is that the strongest player plays a powerful defensive hand. That's right! In all forms of chess - playing offensive is the weaker hand. While it may not seem obvious, when the master in black, who goes first always and is gifted one extra stone thereby having a two stone handicap, places their black stone on the board, it is a powerful statement declaring: "That this board is mine!" And "I challenge you to do something about it!". The degree of offensiveness to the challenger is marked by how close the stone is placed to the physical body of the challenger in white. Most players, who dream of one day becoming professional - play for money - weiqi masters, the lesson is to play close to home and follow established principles that in the professional world have proven consistently reliable in the long run. And when playing on a board that's typically about 50cm squared, this opening shot is hard to see. But as soon as one plays on a board larger than the standard size, and witnesses the black player leaning over to play their first stone then it starts to get noticed. And it is at that moment of needing to start covering up their moves, that the two masters go beyond the battlefield of the board itself and enter the realm of the Chinese Yinyangshi 阴阳师 or the Japanese Onmyoji. Forget what the official texts say on the matter. Official texts deal with ghosts the way the ancient Egyptian pyramids were falsely built by aliens from outer space. Here we are talking about that mysterious office employee that's never around but somehow gets paid more than you! Is he a ghost on the company books to hide disappearing funds or an office ninja, who's role is to put the opposition at a disadvantage? ⚔️圍棋戰聖

門 Every now and then, I get a very good question that deserves answering: What is the difference between the Weiqi Art of War and Sun Tzu's classic by the same name? ☴ The main difference between the two is one of focus, mindset and who the intended receiver of such profound wisdom was. ☲ Sun Tzu's beautiful work of art, was in response to a king's questions regarding war and the making of it. Sun Tzu, being a sharp fella, realised very quickly the flipancy in the king's way and needed a diplomatic way in advising the king on not making war, but if push came to shove, then the king should/would know what was required to win. ☱ The opening warnings on war are deliberate and the first few chapters purposefully go on and on about the numbers, logistics and all the tediously boring stuff. If you've felt put off by it all, you are meant to feel that way. ☷ In martial arts, we keep hearing about being grounded and how important it is. Well, that's what Sun Tzu does from the start and it's not fun! It's not meant to be: In war people die. Permanently like forever. There is no reboot button like in the movies. ☰ Those of you that live the martial arts dream as a way of life will know from continuous experience what I mean. Real life sometimes only looks exciting in the retelling but not when you're actually in it. ☶ Now the game of Weiqi was actually created to be a teaching tool to help budding princes learn how to rule and fight wars. It comes with the assumption that as a prince, you were born into it and so, you've got no choice in the matter. So you'd better get good at it or else. ☵ You fight wars because you have to and not out of flights of fancy. ☳ Weiqi is about maneauverings and posturings. And as you start out, there is the strong possibility that you may be on your own without money, men and guns, nor a vast state ready to die for your goals. 門 It's about placing your stones on the board in such a way, that could be miles and years away, that when actual battle commences, victory is swift and complete. That's the theory. The reality is that lesson 1) there's always somebody who's come before you - hence the master starts first, and lesson 2) life isn't fair and that's why they get one extra stone. And finally lesson 3) as the board fills up with stones, so too as with real life complexities that we love to call "drama" ⚔️圍棋戰聖

My podcast number 125 is called "Ghosts of Shanghai" and that is the title of one of the books I'm currently reading. For most of my listener's, that podcast is like a pleasant diversion, most enjoyed the way some people get all their sleeping done on long-distance flights. It's fun to listen to, but it has no bearing to their lives. In fact, it's more like the helmsman has left the wheel and his second-in-command is praying that the ship doesn't run aground in some godforsaken place run amok with headhunters. In the game of Weiqi (Go/Baduk) there are places like that. Situations in which a player is forced to bring out their best. While we can see all the stones on the board - and - the places where there are no stones, as physical points of fact like the way castles dominate the land around them, the situation moving forward has for at least one of the players become a fog on the bog! Whatever nightmares they carry around with them, they are finally having to face them in a sweat that kind of looks like a fever. And I know, at that moment, up until that point, Weiqi had just been a fancy nerdy game. Nothing more, nothing less. Despite all the talk, they either never knew or realised the powerful implications of Weiqi being an "Art of War" manual. So here is where the men separate from the boys, and the ladies from the girls. Will you keep playing the game, even if you knew that every stone placed upon the board is powerfully changing your present-future reality around you? Will you dare to experience a life in where the people around you are Weiqi stones waiting to be or are being played? On that last question, it is not about manipulation. For nobody can actually be manipulated. People buy into the game to bring excitement to their lives. A life otherwise devoid of true meaning because most of the impulse to succeed has been fizzled out by modern living. That is why you see people living "off the grid", going native, and doing alternative lifestyles et cetera. To be so-called normal is to go plain vanilla everyday. starring at an empty Weiqi board that never gets touched. The board just sits there in silence waiting, waiting, waiting. Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... ⚔️圍棋戰聖

A lesson from the game of Go (Weiqi/Baduk) to help Baguazhang practitioners see Qigong from a non-spiritual angle... Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/

Normally after eight articles on a topic, I would stop because I would have covered one article for each of the eight hexagrams from the I-Ching. And that would be that. Life would move on. I would go and collect my metaphysical paycheque for a job well done. And then I would settle down to a life that most people can comprehend and accept as being normal. For a while, things would be going okay except for the fact that I am living outside of my Zone of Genius, or what is more commonly referred to as being “Not in the Zone' or outside of ‘My flow”. And steadily, but surely, I would see my turf being encroached upon, with players making moves upon the Go board without a response. I don't believe in handicaps except for the ones given in the original form of the game: Black will start first and will get one extra stone to play with. White is the challenger and must earn their stripes. But here I am, giving away freebies to the competition. As you can guess by now, I am talking about the game of weiqi and at the same time I am talking about real life. There is no accident here. The two worlds overlap. You can see it on the board itself when observing two players dueling. They are fighting over turf and territory: The player with the most territory at the end makes the most money. The key principle here is to find a way to transcend the game itself and be like Vince Mcmahon, C.E.O. of W.W.E. and play both sides of the game. If you are already in that position, congratulations. Whether your title says it or not, you are probably in a position of authority with money being a reflection of your success rate. Stay in flow and what you are earning is a one hundred percent return rate. But all too often, we get enticed by the glamour of being a player and hope back down into the game. When we do that, our rate of return gets slashed by half back to only fifty percent. Which totally sucks! Fifty percent isn't even break-even point. One hundred percent is! So focus on becoming a two hundred percenter ⚔️圍棋戰聖

I have decided to continue "The Art of Weiqi War" sub-series because I like the topic and because last night in my dreams I got a visit from Ip Man 葉問. Ip Man was a master of Wing Chun Kung Fu 詠春功夫 and I've spoken about him in my very first podcast: Ip Man drinks tea. In my dream, I found myself entering a warmly lit Hong Kong street cafe. The kind that served Chinese fried Cheung Fun alongside more western spam and scrambled eggs. Real scrambled in a wok eggs - not the microwaved egg stuff most cafes in Sydney like to serve. I couldn't see outside of the cafe but I guessed it was dark. Inside the cafe, it was busy and most people were enjoying Hofun rice noodles in soup. And the lady at the cash register next to the front door motioned me to sit at the only available free space opposite Ip Man. Now, because I have already had my choices experience dealing with the dreamworld in my teenage years (with dreams being just another path along spiritual transcendence), I could sense that I was in a dream and that Ip Man was now a part of the afterlife. But still, to be sitting with Ip Man was a martial arts blessing I wish to share with my fellow wayfarers along the martial arts journey. He was sitting with his Gaiwan and had in front of him a Weiqi board that stood empty except for a single black stone placed upon it. In the dreamworld, you don't really "see" with your eyes, so I didn't know where the black stone was. I just "knew" of its existence and that the next move upon the Weiqi board was mine. Seated opposite him, we saluted in the Kungfu style: Closed fist inside a clenched palm. Sun and moon combined. "So, are you alive or are you dead?" Ip Man asked me. What an unusual question. I am dreaming and because I know I am dreaming, I'm trying my darnedest to not wake up. I placed a white stone on the board. I "think" I know where I placed it upon the Weiqi board but if I were to tell you now, it would be a fabrication. So which was it? Dead or alive? Do I even remember walking into the cafe or did I just move through the door? I couldn't think straight. The background sound of a Wing Chun practitioner training on a wooden dummy was distracting me. Ip Man just smiled and I felt that pulling sensation one gets just before they wake ⚔️圍棋戰聖

So here we are in the Weiqi game: The place where - how we end things - is most critical to the successful outcome of the game. Unlike real war, where people tend to actually die a hell of a lot, the business of business warfare is like a grinding millstone that never ever ends. Yes, we are sold the dream of victory and success through wealth and riches, but those materialistic goals tend to leave a bitter taste after a while. And so, there comes the point where we start to daydream of taking off the crown, removing the signet ring, getting if the throne and stepping down the dias. As we do this, everybody in attendance is watching in awe and shock at such a scene, because just a few moments prior it seemed like you're an old hardass bastard who's hand couldn't let go of his sword; even if he wanted to. But in that, how we end the game lies freedom. The freedom to walk out the main door and out to the white light of victory: True Victory. Not that I am going anywhere. By studying other games that is what one notices: After the tipping point comes. The point where you know it is over. And everybody is just waiting for it to be over. In sports that's usually when the clock runs out. But in Weiqi this ending can drag on and on (almost indefinitely). I say almost indefinitely because novices tend to think that the game is bound by a machine that measures time by counting down the hours, minutes and seconds. It is nothing of the sort. A true master of the game knows that time is measured by the alternating placements of black and white stones until they are used up. With time between placements varying from a few seconds to weeks and months. And those spacings in-between - the lull, the set up, and executions having the exact value as zero. Now there's a piece of real human quantum entanglement played out on a human level ⚔️圍棋戰聖

The stones go clank on the weiqi board. Or do they go clink. Some people argue that they go clonk. Or was that clunk? However, which way, a player hears the sound of stones being placed on the board, they can be as sweet as a gentle stream out in the middle of nowhere. And just hearing myself, say these things, makes me wonder about the significance of the thoughts I am sharing with you. Perhaps through the game of weiqi, I am seeking freedom. Even though at the core of my being I know that I am already free. Or maybe, more accurately I'm on some kind of journey to spiritual enlightenment. Despite not having the intention of actually visiting this place called Enlightenment. But that's the weird part about higher games of weiqi. At some point in one's evolution through the game we become a vessel to the Spirit of Enlightenment. It sucks us into the game so deeply, so intensely, that the game becomes the only reality. It is all there is. And when we are there, we experience a lifetime's worth of us in which we know ourselves from birth to death. We play ourselves out to the fullest. And we are not totally sure if our opponent actually exists as a true individual or a manifestation of our own opinions, thoughts, feelings and beliefs. So when we are brought back to the now we can feel a little bit disorientated. Wondering what just happened. As we try to get our composure back, we rapidly start forgetting where we'd been. It is only years later, in the grips of powerful deja-vu when we try to piece it all together, that there is a chance that while we are trying to be at one with our yang dominated ego, that we come to know the other half: our yin dominated shadow. Here enlightenment is the unification of ego and shadow into one complete wholeness, that allows a person to see the space enclosed by that unification. Gladly: This is just spiritual talk telling you that your opponent is your opponent so that you can get to know your true self ⚔️圍棋戰聖

The life of a Weiqi master goes like this: The masters have a game of Weiqi. At the end they put the board and stones away. And spend the rest of the evening reminiscing about how great or poorly they played the game. The end. Between games, the Weiqi master does not exist. He or she lives as a dream within the mind of a person doing a nine to five job that they may or may not like. The life of a Go player is pretty much the same, even though the name of the game has changed. The only difference is that one lives in China and the other person lives in Japan. And the Baduk guy lives in Korea. They see the soap opera of people's daily lives as an outwardly manifestation of what is happening within themselves. So when they walk past a television screen and see the news and witness that one country is at war with another country, over whatever petty reason, they will tell you that that was yesterday's game because the idiots in charge are living in the past. But that is politics and war. Not Weiqi. The true secret is knowing when we are trying to make it work. Sometimes we don't even know we are doing it. Many years ago, when I first moved into my apartment, we used to park our car in the space that we thought had been assigned to us. Then after a year of parking there, we got those 'move it or else ' letters that people sometimes leave on car windscreens. At the time, as you can imagine, it was a bit of shock and we duly blamed the real estate agent who sold us the place. But with all contracts, the buck stopped with us and we had to find out from strata where our carpark space was. As we drove to the space, I was still in the past trying to make it work. But when I saw the new space, I was gobsmacked. It turned out to be right beside the elevator and spaced out so that the doors on all sides of the car can be fully opened. The only other guy with a space remotely like mine drives a Lamborghini. God bless him ⚔️圍棋戰聖

Despite all the dismissals and finger pointing as superstitious witchcraft nonsense by scientists, they too want to know the future. They too, are starting to engage in fortune-telling and prophecy, as witnessed by the growing number of articles on quantum computing and its ability to predict the future. And no matter how much these geniuses in the ivory tower say they know their maths, they too want to know next week's lottery numbers. Playing weiqi (go/baduk) is infact a form of partnership between you and your rival: a delicate balancing act in which two opposing sides use the leverage of competition to form a new reality. It is in this process of creating a new reality that at a certain level the future can be foretold. The desire to know the future is really a desire to cause order out of disorder. It is not about hearing or seeing what you want to happen. Although there is sometimes a feeling that the answers given are biased towards what we wish. True chaos hides in the fact, that most people do not actually know what they want. They say that they do - but that would be like a weiqi board in which there is only one type of colour on the board. People need opposition to prove to themselves that what they want is actually what they want. And the more uncertain they are, the more opposition they attract into their lives. And yet, within this chaos resides the seed of order. And that is where I typically come in. I have friends who are better than me at the game of weiqi. But every now and then they lose themselves to the politics of the game and start to feel disenfranchised. So in order to get back their mojo, they invite me to an evening of family dinner, tea and a game of weiqi or two. I have been described as a category six super cyclone in my style of play. And I play like it is their last day on earth. My theory on that, is that when I was younger I read too much Judeo-Christian literature about Judgment Day. So for that game, I AM hell on earth. During the game as I am throwing fire and brimstone at them, wave upon wave, I see their version of reality unfold. Yes, they elected to play the defensive game. It's the only real way to beat me. For those of you familiar with the game, playing defence is the stronger overarching strategy along with the combined strategy of holding out for as long as possible until the attacker runs out of mental ammo. I've had guys at the end of a game thank me, because just like the beautiful rainbow that comes after a storms' passing, they again have perspective and clarity as to what truly matters to them. Even if they cannot articulate it because it may just be a sense of knowing based on an inexpressible feeling. And if they are up to it, I will show them their future based on the way they played the game. Which isn't so airy-fairy as it seems: Most people play weiqi the way they live their lives and perform their occupations. They just need guidance in seeing it for themselves. And maybe a stiff drink or two, to help wash the lessons down ⚔️圍棋戰聖

The Art of Weiqi (Go/Baduk) war is more than just surrounding stones on a board with yet more stones. The game is about finding an opponent's tipping point and then gently nudging your opponent over the line. Ideally it is done in such a way that the opponent must react to you move with maximum firepower while all you did was put a stone on the board. How this is achieved depends on how well you know your opponent. As Suntzu said, " Know thy enemy - know thy self". People who are pre-set to committing seppuku have a really hard time in getting good at playing Weiqi. Hence seppuku is forbidden in the game. Seppuku is self-defeating victimhood. Seppuku means committing suicide. One only has to look around the world and realise that the overwhelming majority of suicide attacks and acts of terror are committed within the terrorist's own country and community. It is the ultimate form of selfharm that does nothing to address the abuse done from without. So in Weiqi (Go/Baduk) seppuku is forbidden. The game (by the rules) forces you to play somewhere else, and try another move that may seem counterintuitive. It only does it for one turn. But that one turn, while seemingly like a retreat, may infact be the excuse needed to make the move required to win the war and win the game. Whether you knew it at the time or not. The real art of war is the ability to look like you are retreating because the rules force you to, and using the mask of retreat to be in truth attacking somewhere else without arousing an opponent's suspicion. As the saying goes: He who let's go shall have and he who has shall have nothing ⚔️圍棋戰聖

The game of Go is an abstract board game for two players in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent. Weiqi is the Chinese name and Baduk is the Korean name of the same game. For most people, who are aware of the game, the game is the dominion of geeks, nerds and unkept guys who need to take better care of their physical health. To truly play Weiqi well, the mind (through the body) needs to be well maintained. Especially, since the line between what is game and what is life can get blurred. Thankfully, most of these players are unable to visualise the game beyond black and white stones on a board. Least its relevance to war. Baguazhang is one of the three traditional internal martial arts of China. The main difference between Baguazhang and Weiqi is one of strategy and tactics. Baguazhang is about tactics and Weiqi is about strategy. True mastery of the game is like being up on the 57th floor of a tall tower and looking down upon the world below. But first we need to ride the elevator of success to get there. We hop on at ground level. The doors close and we as we begin the ascension, soft elevator music starts playing in the background. Every now and then, the elevator stops to let people on and off. These are the dozen or so, beginning moves. Then at some point, two shady guys enter the elevator. Their presence makes you a little uncomfortable. They're cutting off your exit. But why not three guys? You wonder. What's the perspective? As you ponder on it, the phone rings. You act cool. Put the phone to your ear, and in the sweetest female voice you have ever heard, you hear a voice recording in Mandarin Chinese telling you to pay up or else they'll be trouble. You've only reached the 42nd floor! Bullshit, you say. War's come early. It's at this point that the Baguazhang kicks in and most of you know how the scene unfolds and it is awesome to behold. Come 57th floor and we all know who's steeping out of the elevator, and it is not the thugs ⚔️圍棋戰聖

Mankind desires peace in his time, but the evidence shows that the ideal of peace is not actually what he wants. Mankind finds peace to be like an endless paradise that is slowly turning into drought. The summer of abundance becomes the space in which boredom sets in. And he actually starts to crave the uncertainty of war. Mankind does not explicitly say so, but rather wraps this desire in positive images that can be sold to the rest of humanity. Small messages and clues – small little acts that eventually will lead to the same outcome: War. In playing Weiqi (Go/Baduk) from a higher plane, every stone placed on the Weiqi board - whether it be a black stone or a white stone - is an act of war. Acts of war fought from darkest winter and despair, back into the warmth of summer and peace and harmony. The very thing mankind was trying to end. From war to peace. And then from peace to war again. From order to chaos and then from chaos back to order again. Like the cycle of the seasons: Autumn, winter, spring and summer. Rare indeed is the Weiqi game in which no stones are captured and the cherry blossoms do not bloom ⚔️圍棋戰聖

The flow of positive qi at its greatest is like a raging wind bringing fresh clean air into a stale house. When a person has internalized the art of war, whether it be through Suntzu or Sunbin or both, life for the person takes on a whole new perspective that makes the Middle Kingdom insignificant to the larger scheme of things. I had not yet internalized them, but by 1994 through the Heart of Africa, I had begun to feel it's effects upon the destiny I was treading by way of the Weiqi (Go/Baduk) game. Only those people who have met me in person or have been in my house, know what I am talking about. Because it is not something easily understood by others nor do I have the language for it. Or maybe I do: Laugh! If you want, but I am a "Living Tao for myself and others along the martial arts journey". When I play the game of Weiqi (Go/Baduk), the world moves from blocked to a clear flowing stream again. And those most aligned with my qi find relief in a lasting way. Too many Weiqi (Go/Baduk) players drown in the rules and technicalities of professional play. Without never knowing their own inner dragon. A dragon that wants to manifest and create. The flow of positive qi at its greatest is like a raging wind blowing fresh clean air into the stale house. Everything it touches is transformed ⚔️圍棋戰聖

It is said that the way of bushido is found in death. I never believed this statement until... During one Weiqi game played years ago... A certain stone was placed upon the board. Placed upon the board with the traditional two finger placement, it went clunk! And I knew that The Rubicon had finally been crossed. And with that, the dragon that had placed the stone on the Weiqi board quietly sipped their cup of tea. Before returning back into their posture of contemplation. The dragon in opposition sat in discomfort but with the possibility that their divine grace could be saved. Sadly though, while it couldn't see it clearly, those observing the game, could see the power of balance shift against it. It is tempting to record here, play for play, of what actually happened so that the listener (or reader) here can savour every moment for themselves like some television drama. But a true master of the game has already taken the title of Imperator in accordance with the game. Death has come to the weaker dragon in retreat and every play from that moment of when the river was crossed is a brushstroke upon its death poem. It was only one stone in time that nobody could foresee unless played. In the art of war, we learn, practice and strategize. We get good at what we do. And then with all opposition collapsed, we find ourselves entering Rome as if all that went before it had been just a very, very bad dream ⚔️圍棋戰聖

The game of Go or weiqi is an interesting game. On the surface it is as logical as a cold hard scientist in love with nothing but mathematics. You have a board containing exactly 361 co-ordinates or points. And exactly 361 stones that fit nicely on all of those co-ordinates. And yet, a simple rule guarantees chaos – You can never have it all. Either you never touch the board or you must learn to share it. For most people in the world that is life. And the sharing of things lead to problems that need resolving. In the world of absolutes ruled by black and white, WeiQi or Go should be the perfect game but it never stops to amuse me, how many people get stuck on the very first move. All their mathematical concepts of logic breakdown before their very eyes. And what was so orderly just seems to vanish into nothing. Which is interesting, because the game still follows some very basic rules of physics like ‘for every action there's an equal opposite reaction'. For every one stone placed on the board, the opposing player will place its equal opposing stone reaction. But where is that stone? You may ask as you see that the counter-move doesn't exactly mirror the first move. Indeed, like a stealthy ninja, the stone is there, waiting to be used in the future elimination of a stone that hasn't even been thought of yet. In this the game is more than just stones on a board. It is a reflection of life itself trying to resolve itself by way of moments in time and not minutes in time, as two opposing dragons fight for the right to claim the board as part of their respective individual reality. One good example of this, is the novel ( La Joueuse de Go) The girl who played Go by the author Shan Sha. Set in Manchuria during the 1930's, it is essentially a basic story of two people from two different worlds and opposing countries, who through the powers that be, meet and play a game of Go (weiqi) and ultimately romantically die together. While the actual game of Go or weiqi within the book is okay… There is another more important game of Go being played in the book that some people have noticed, but tends to get missed in the reviews. Looking deeper, beyond the obvious, each chapter alternates between the two first person viewpoints. The girl's chapter starts first like a black stone on the board. The second chapter belongs to the boy. He is the white stone. Within each chapter, the first couple of paragraphs give a strong indication of what the move would look like on a go board had the board been Manchuria. Shan Sha is the Girl who played Go and her novel is the game laid out symbolically in story form, as two logical entities with their own versions of logic, battle and sometimes love within her for domination. With the end of things having nothing to do with the numbers, mathematics or science. But resolved by its own final pattern.

☰ Make yourself a cup of tea 茶, gently sit down and mindfully start practicing Tea Time equals Me Time for what I am about to tell you is this: I have been told once or twice that Baguazhang 八卦掌 is the martial art of the Gods 神. And that the Grandmasters 大公傅 of Baguazhang 八卦掌 are the high priests 大祭司. ☷ On the surface of things, this may or may not be true. But as I gaze upon the Go 碁 broad I am playing, it does make me wonder about the deeper significance of what it actually means. ☳ For some, the shocking statement 震聲明 I just made, is a distraction to what is important to them. For others, they may need "a cup of tea 一杯茶 and a bit of a lie down". ☴ And yet still for others more, this is just what they need as a distraction from their daily stress and problems to get into Tea Time equals Me Time from a higher plane of existence. ☵ If you do not believe me, then check your palms. If your inner palms 手掌 are starting to tingle or "hum", then your chi 氣 is activating at the idea being proposed here. It is like going into a war that you know you will win. ☲ Your only wish is that your opponent will show up, so that you can hide the fact that you have already won without fighting, for as Suntzu 孫子 is often quoted: The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. ☶ The bit about palms "tingling" is a physical effect of what it is like to be a Qigong master 氣功师傅 and is something to look forward to.  ☱ Now back to the Go 碁 game and my tea 茶. What most people see is just a bunch of black and white stones on the board, and a person drinking tea 喝茶. That's fine. But what I see, is a person who allowed themselves to delve further than usual into the world of tea 茶 and kung fu culture 功夫道. And that's great! ⚔️圍棋戰聖

☰ The Way of Tea 茶道 can lead a person to interesting places. Especially if that path is about reaching out to others for a nice cuppa and maybe a good game Go (Weiqi/Baduk) 圍棋. ☳ Such a time and place of bonding happened recently with my oldest daughter. ☵ What I like about the game of Go 碁, is that it can suck players into a world of infinite possibilities at the beginning and lead them to a place where no moves are left possible. ☶ And at the same time teaching strategy, tactics and observation from a higher plane of existence. And allowing me to teach what books and kinesthetics sometimes fail to do. ☷ While not mentioned in Suntzu's classic The Art of War 孫子兵法, in folktales involving him, it was said that during battles of critical engagement Suntzu 孫子 was known to take mindful observations by playing Weiqi 圍棋 and drinking tea 茶. ☴ By noting this, perhaps there is something in it for us? ☲ Who knows the answer to that? But those who know, know. Such is the way 道 of things. ☱ Perhaps the next time you are being mindful through Tea Time equals Me Time, the person sitting beside you could be just such a person. Reach out. Get connected. And allow the act of pouring a cup of tea 茶 for them to be the start of newfound friendship. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/

☰/☳ Baguazhang 八卦掌 is a fighting system designed to take on multiple attackers while maintaining focus on the principle target. It does this by being circles within circles. ☷/☵ In the picture we have Yi Weiqi 弈圍棋 (not her real name) playing Go 碁. She sits pondering over the board as the stones of black and white are arranged in a roughly circular pattern. Off to one side there is a cup of tea and she could be having her daily Tea Time equals Me Time. But you aren't sure. And you are wondering what Weiqi 圍棋 and the game of Go 碁 have to do with Baguzhang 八卦掌? ☵/☶ For those who are unfamiliar with the game of Go, it is about isolating the head from the body and eliminating it from the game. Divide and Conquer. Which seems simple in theory until we realise that at its very simplest, it takes at least four stones to surround one opposing stone. Yes, I know. There are the corners and sides... ☲/☰ At the strategy level of the army general 將官 this makes sense. But what of the tactical foot soldier level? In Go, a player is not allowed to 'suicide' a stone. A good rule designed to stop mindless tit-for-tat stone-losing moves, which I will let others explain or comment on... But in real life it is done all the time with at its worst: Suicide bombers. And at its best: Employing SAS or Navy Seals. ☳/☷ If Go is a hurricane (cyclone/typhoon), then baguazhang would be a tornado. ☶/☱ As a high-end promoter of tea and the concept of Tea Time equals Me Time. I am sometimes confronted by multiple targets first thing in the morning as part of running my business. Making decisions before I have even truly woken up. Solving problems that need immediate solving. And there isn't a boss or higher up in sight to complain about or to, because I am upper management.  ☴/☲ Most people think tea is for old people and ladies... But the lion prefers to wait for the storm to break before striking at zebra, rather than just mindlessly going about hither and tither. Killing the zebra is easy. Isolating the zebra from the herd is not so easy. ☱/☴ Hence Tea Time equals Me Time: An effectively simple way to take back control of the game. Take back our space, our time. To stay focused on the long game while enjoying the immediate action. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/ ⚔️圍棋戰聖

Heyang: For those who want to forge a close relationship with a Chinese person, or just want to find a popular Chinese past-time, the poker game ‘Doudizhu’, which literally means “battling the landlords”, maybe a way to go. And now ‘Doudizhu” learners may find themselves more motivated as the sports authorities has announced that, first of all: this is a sport, and it’s going to receive special funding, and top players will be recognized officially. So what is all these special attention that’s given to ‘Doudizhu”, a poker game? Hongling: As you’ve mentioned, the poker game ‘Doudizhu” has been first to recognize as a sport early this year. Now there’s a national tournament of ‘Doudizhu’, which is basically for you who don’t know, it’s a popular strategic card game and poker game in China, and was officially launched on the September the 3rd. The price for the tournament total is five million Yuan, and in addition players will participate via online gaming platforms. We’ll receive master points granted by China’s general administration of sports. So basically it’s a sport, people are funding it, and you can play it online. Ryan: My my my doudizhu face, my doudizhu face, my poker face, baby. Um, you know what, my deal with it is I don’t know if I would consider it sport, me and Hongling had an argue about it before the show, but one thing it is-- it’s very popular, and people their skill that comes in to playing it, I’m sure of it. And there’s money to be made, so why not have a ‘Doudizhu’ (you make it so exotic hahaha--Heyang) face of tournament where the best in the world compete. For big prize, why not?Hongling: I gotta say Ryan said it’s not a sport, but he also believes that chess or go (Weiqi) is not a sport. It’s a strategic game. That is the background information I wanna give you guys. Heyang: You got it from him. What about video games? Cause there are major tournaments of video game playing. Can you call it not a sport? When you are exercising your brain muscles, they don’t exist. Ryan: Alright I mean like this is um where you get an English word, the relativity kind of matters. For me sport implies something physical is happening, whereas game just implies everything under it. I think this ‘Doudizhu’ game would just be called the card game in the west. Whereas when you say something it’s a sport, it’s most times—it is the thing that they have in common is they’re both competitive. You know like golf or even football, and this card game. But at the same time, completely different things are going on. Hongling: I would totally agree with having this as a tournament, cause like one hundred million people are playing this game. So for me it’s like how real the thing gets depends on how many people are participating in that. Ryan: I mean I see this sport thing because in one case, for football you have an athlete running across the football field with lots of skill, and in the other you have a guy sitting in a bathroom, smoking a cigarette, playing this game on his phone, are they both athletes? Is it a sport? I don’t know, you decide, but obviously it is very popular, and like I said require skills. So why not? Heyang: So why not?Ryan: So why not?Heyang: But also I’d like to bring in a slightly controversial side of ‘doudizhu’, that is often you know with any poker game, it could be involved with gambling, and gambling is illegal in our country, so now with this national sport be in roll getting involved promoting this poker game. It’s very interesting I’d like to see what the national policy is about on this one.

We have a Patreon now! https://www.patreon.com/givingthemic/ We talk with Glenn Peters about the game Go a.k.a. Weiqi a.k.a. Baduk, its history, its appearances in American pop culture, significant games, etc. Stuff mentioned: _Heaven Knows, Mr Allison_, 1957, dir by John Huston "Hikaru no Go", 1998-on, originally created by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata. _Criminal Minds,_ S1E1, "Extreme Aggressor" _A Beautiful Mind,_ 2001. Dir by Ron Howard _Pi_, 1998, dir by Darren Aranofsky Glenn Peters Twitter: @greyaenigma Oregon Go http://oregongo.org/ American Go Association http://www.usgo.org/ Internet Go School http://internetgoschool.com/index.vhtml KGS http://www.gokgs.com/ Find us on Twitter: @givingthemic Comments/Questions/Worshipfulness: Givingthemic@gmail.com Main theme by The Mysterious Breakfast'r Cereal at @chiptheme All items trademarked and copyright their respective owners.

中国围棋 Go (weiqi em chines), uma sabedoria ancestral da China

In contemporary China, the game of Weiqi (also known as Go) represents many things at the same time: the military power of the general, the intellect and control of the Confucian gentleman, the rationality of the modern scientist. In Go Nation: Chinese Masculinities and the Game of Weiqi in China (University of California, 2013), Marc L. Moskowitz considers these aspects of Weiqi, treating the game as a lens through which to observe what it means to be a child, a university student, or a senior citizen in contemporary China, and how different modes of masculinity are constructed within those spheres. Moskowitz’s fascinating study is based on extended ethnographic research in Beijing that included studying Weiqi with children in series of school programs, playing in parks with retired construction workers, and playing alongside intensely committed university students in the Peking University Weiqi Club. Rendered in wonderfully clear and accessible prose, the account focuses on the masculinities emerging within those groups but pays ample attention to women Weiqi players at all levels who also work within these social structures. Go Nation pays close attention to aspects of Weiqi culture that reflect broader nationalistic, ethical, historical, and social discourses within contemporary China, and it is both a pleasurable and enlightening read. You can find out more about Moskowitz’s film Weiqi Wonders here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In contemporary China, the game of Weiqi (also known as Go) represents many things at the same time: the military power of the general, the intellect and control of the Confucian gentleman, the rationality of the modern scientist. In Go Nation: Chinese Masculinities and the Game of Weiqi in China (University of... Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/chinese-studies

In contemporary China, the game of Weiqi (also known as Go) represents many things at the same time: the military power of the general, the intellect and control of the Confucian gentleman, the rationality of the modern scientist. In Go Nation: Chinese Masculinities and the Game of Weiqi in China (University of California, 2013), Marc L. Moskowitz considers these aspects of Weiqi, treating the game as a lens through which to observe what it means to be a child, a university student, or a senior citizen in contemporary China, and how different modes of masculinity are constructed within those spheres. Moskowitz’s fascinating study is based on extended ethnographic research in Beijing that included studying Weiqi with children in series of school programs, playing in parks with retired construction workers, and playing alongside intensely committed university students in the Peking University Weiqi Club. Rendered in wonderfully clear and accessible prose, the account focuses on the masculinities emerging within those groups but pays ample attention to women Weiqi players at all levels who also work within these social structures. Go Nation pays close attention to aspects of Weiqi culture that reflect broader nationalistic, ethical, historical, and social discourses within contemporary China, and it is both a pleasurable and enlightening read. You can find out more about Moskowitz’s film Weiqi Wonders here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In contemporary China, the game of Weiqi (also known as Go) represents many things at the same time: the military power of the general, the intellect and control of the Confucian gentleman, the rationality of the modern scientist. In Go Nation: Chinese Masculinities and the Game of Weiqi in China (University of... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In contemporary China, the game of Weiqi (also known as Go) represents many things at the same time: the military power of the general, the intellect and control of the Confucian gentleman, the rationality of the modern scientist. In Go Nation: Chinese Masculinities and the Game of Weiqi in China (University of California, 2013), Marc L. Moskowitz considers these aspects of Weiqi, treating the game as a lens through which to observe what it means to be a child, a university student, or a senior citizen in contemporary China, and how different modes of masculinity are constructed within those spheres. Moskowitz’s fascinating study is based on extended ethnographic research in Beijing that included studying Weiqi with children in series of school programs, playing in parks with retired construction workers, and playing alongside intensely committed university students in the Peking University Weiqi Club. Rendered in wonderfully clear and accessible prose, the account focuses on the masculinities emerging within those groups but pays ample attention to women Weiqi players at all levels who also work within these social structures. Go Nation pays close attention to aspects of Weiqi culture that reflect broader nationalistic, ethical, historical, and social discourses within contemporary China, and it is both a pleasurable and enlightening read. You can find out more about Moskowitz’s film Weiqi Wonders here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices